Curing siccative surface covering



Patented Dec. 15, 1942 2.305.210 comm slccarlvn suaracs comma Marmms Walter w. Durant, 01d Greenwich. ems, assignor to American Cyanamid Company, New York, N. 1., a corporation of Maine No Drawing. Application November 30, 1039, Serial No. 308,807

IClaim.

This invention relates to the acceleration of the rate of curing or seasoning" of surface covering compositions such as floor covering compositions containing siccative binders, as well as to the improvement in the alkali resistance of such compositions.

An object of this invention is to provide accelerators for surface covering compositions containing siccative binders which will cause such compositions to cure more rapidly. Another object of this invention is to improve the alkali resistance of surface covering compositions containing siccative binders.

These and other objects are attained by incorporating in a siccative composition which is to be used in a floor covering composition or other surface covering composition ammeline.

The following examples are given by way of illustration and not in limitation.

Example 1 Parts by weight Binder 30 Wood flour 30 Whitin Lithopone 20 Ammeline I mixed and disintegrated and then calendered.

The material may be calendered on to burlap or other fibrous backing if desired. The sheeted material is placed in a stoving oven through which a current of heated air from about 70' C. to about 90 C. is circulated until the material is completely seasoned, i. e. until the sheet acquires the necessary degree of hardness.

The hardness may be measured by any of the methods generally employed in the manufacture or linoleum. See the Federal Stock Catalogue (U. $.Government Printing Oi'lice), section 4, part 5. pages LLL-L-351 et seq. and pages LIL-L481 et seq., for the method employed herein. The time required for "seasoning" a 2 mm. sheet of the above composition is about eight to nine days. The resulting "seasoned"- fioor covering shows improved alkali resistance.

to measure the depth in millimeters to which a 5% solution of sodium hydroxide in water penetrates in one hour at a temperature of 70 F. By this method the alkali resistance of the "seasoned sheets" is about 0.21 mm. penetration.

The "seasoning speed" of a 2 mm. sheet of the same mixture which does not contain ammeline is about twelve to fourteen days and the alkali resistance of such a composition is about 0.28 mm. The marked improvement obtained with my composition is outstanding inasmuch as I have found it to be very dimcult to improve the alkali resistance by even as little as 0.01 mm.

These substances may be mixed and sheeted in the same general manner as the procedure set forth in Example 1. The resulting floor covering sheets "season" or "mature" in about six days and the "seasoned" sheets have an alkali resistance or about 0.20 mm. as compared with a seasoning speed of twelve to fourteen days and an alkali resistance of about 0.28 mm. penetration characteristic of similar compositions which omit the ammeline.

The binders may be derived from the drying oils and may be made in any convenient wellmown manner, such as the methods described in British Patent 305,656 orthe binders may comprise any of the various alkyd resins having siccative properties. For drying oil binders, linseed oil is preferable for economic reasons but other siccative oils may be used such as, for example. menhaden or flsh oil. tung oil, soy bean oil, perilla oil, oiticica oil, Bcheiber oil, sunflower seed oil, etc. The term siccative oil" as used herein is intended to include not only the so-called drying oils but also the so-called semi-drying oils. Furthermore it is possible teuse mixtures of siccative oils with other fatty oils of the non-drying type.

Itmay be preferable in the manufacture of linoleum to make use of so-called scrim-oil" or "shed oil either alone or fluxed with rosin or other gums or resins and/or mixed with a proportion of the so-called "mechanical oil." Either .oithesetypesofoiismaybeusedsinglyifdesired. one method of determining alkali resistance is In the preparation of the siccative oil binders the examples are the alkyd acid with terpenas it is'cu'stomary to use rosin in admixture with the oil although other substances of the same type may be used e. g., kauri gum. Congo gum, ester gum, abietic acid and its esters, pimaric acid, etc.

Other siccative binders which may be used in resins which have siccative properties. Among modified reaction products and polyh dric alcohols are particularly desirable. Other alkyd resins which are modified with drying oils may be used such as the phthalic-glyceride resins, the glycol-maieic resins, and mixed resins such as the phthaiiciumaric-glycol-glyceride resins.

Instead of wood ilour and/or whiting and litho'pone used in the examples, other fillers or pig ments may be used. Examples oi such fillers are: cork, cellulose pulp, asbestos, cottonwood tree pulp, walnut shell meal, glass fibers, ioliated glass, etc. Among the pigments which may be used are included: lithopone, barytes, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, chromates, red lead, white lead, malachite green, chrome green, chrome yellow, Prussian blue, iron oxide, etc. Similarly dyes and lakes may be used if desirable.

It is generally preferable to use driers in the preparation of the binders. The drier is usually added to the binder during the oxidation process and if desirable additional drier may be added when the binder, fillers, etc., are mixed together. Suitable driers include the oil soluble salts such as the naphthenates, resinates and linoleates of cobalt, lead, manganese, zinc and chromium. Only a small proportion of these driers based on the siccative oil content, is generally suiilcient, e. g. about 0.005-1%, although larger proportions these, the drying oil v 01' maleic or iumaric may be used it desirable. Obviously various mixtures oi driers may be used.

The term "seasoning as applied to linoleum compositions indicates the process oi curing by heating or equivalent treatment to polymerize and/ or oxidize the composition to a stage wherein the floor covering is sufliciently hard and resistant to abrasion to be suitable for its intended purpose and yet is still suillciently flexible to permit the usual bending and rolling required of linoleum. The term "maturing" is similarly used.

I have found that only a small proportion of ammeline is generally sufficient, e. g. (Ll-5% of the siccative composition but obviously smaller or larger proportions may be used it desirable.

My accelerator is preferably added during the mixing of the binder with the fillers, etc., although it may be added before or during the oxidation of the binder. If my accelerator be added before or during the oxidation it appears to inhibit somewhat the gelation of the siccative binder. It'is to be noted, however, that after gelation my accelerator speeds up the curing oi the siccative composition.

Obviously many modifications in the processes and compositions described above may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a process of curing a surface covering composition including a siccative material selected from the group consisting of drying oils and drying oil modified polyhydric alcohol-polycarboxylic acid resins, the step which comprises adding to such a composition ammeline.

WALTER DURANT. 

